Friday, February 27, 2009

Hello fellow friends classmates and other people who are reading this. Im just chilling right now after a hard day of school listening to Lil' Wayne that Josh gave me. Big ups!

So the RISD experience is pretty nice. I'm starting to find my little groove and getting comfortable with the surroundings. It was really overwhelming first arriving due to this big mess of getting into my room figuring out the huge campus and scheduling classes. Registering the first day of class is a bad idea. I guess that is the first big disadvantage about studying abroad. It seems most people study somewhere else to get certain classes or teachers but its kind of hard when there already full with other students in the program. Although I got most classes that I wanted I did not get into a class with Nancy Skolos... but I'm super stoked on having Doug Scott for my graphic design history teacher! The class has 80 people in it! and instead having huge writing assignments were doing actual design projects! each person is assigned to do a landmark poster and a context timeline. We break into groups of about 8 with grad students for help for this part though. Im doing the the Wiener Werkstatte and Ray & Charles Eames for the time line.

The facilities here are amazing especially the library that is located in the building I live in (15 west). They have this camera eye that will take photos of books, crop them and send them to your email for you! The commons are lined with real diamond chairs. Its really top of the line and its weird that I'm already used to it. The bad thing though is all these crappy flyers lined on the walls.... I thought KCAI's printing was a bummer sometimes but RISD is a joke. So I guess I'm just not going to print anything.

The faculty that I have is drastically different from KCAI. They are all older, I believe, and most of them are foreign. Ootje Oxnaar is from nederlandand and designed there currency a couple of times!

He told us that a critic said his design looked like monopoly money and he took it as a compliment. He emphasized how much fun he had making these and that he was open to do whatever he wanted for the design. He also incorporate a braille system. When he was making the 25 he put an imprint of his middle finger into the philosophers beard and was seen until the final prints were made. he's really funny (unintentionally, because he's 80 and is so laid back). He teachers Identity design. Where making book covers right now of a classmate and using there initials for a monogram. 3 are so much more complex then 2. We also have to have a hand drawing of the person in black and white to focus characteristics of some ones identity.

the white lines indicate the flaps. and spine. Soyeon doesn't have a middle name but we had to use three letters so I spelled yes using a letter in her name.

I also have Krysztof Lenk for Mapping Information. He also foreign and from Poland. The class is still not rolling completely because he was feeling sick but we did a HUGE mind map of the word aggression and organized it by using bw type only in a group of 7 people. this was a lot of fun deciding what we all felt was important to the topic and the hierarchy of the over all design. now we're going to emphasize how we feel individually about the map with color image and any other type of treatment that will give words and categories meaning.

I had to take a type class just because I am attracted to it. Hans van dijk is alittle strange and from the Netherlands also. Were set up to do a MoMA project that involves a current exhibitions poster (only type, bw, 2 colors), a pda website for an Iphone, and a catalogue for Joan Miró.

My Final class is visual systems. I like the set up of the class because we meet in the auditorium every class and receive a lecture from Tom Ockerse for about an hour or so then I meet back in design with John Caserta and get into more of a discussion on the topics. Right now we are experimenting with patterns and doing reading responses to systems. Deconstructing what makes a system up. The system as a whole, the components in the system, and how they interact giving the system its behavior. Here is a screen shot of my patterns. I created a unit and rotated, inverted, and reflected each piece on a 6x6 grid.

One thing I've that is different is the amount of people in graphic design here. Its nice to see a huge group that are all talented and bring something to the program. But many people aren't in studio or don't work in studio. So for me its a bummer because I'm on a wait list to get a desk. Sometimes Ill just sit in someone else's desk but it gets to be a hassle if I'm bringing stuff back and forth. The design center is a really nice place and has the school store right on the first floor along with the mailing room. So pretty much the opposite of KCAI's design building.

There seems to be a few more activities here as well. I was really excited to see a label tied to a railing in the elevator that hung a little illustration of a tree. On the back it was an event about praising The Giving Tree. (one of my all time favorite books). There is also a portfolio day coming up which I am going to attend. Can't wait to go check out American Eagle! But there is a pretty big list including Pentagram. The more experience the better. I just got all my resume/portfolios sent off to some places and already have an interview set up!

Im really excited about this whole experience and was a lot of fun. There is something about making a package for a specific group or person that represents yourself.

There is also many inspiring things here. They have a Paul Rand book cover exhibit up right now in design as well as student projects of infographics.

I haven't been around to all the building here yet so Iwill probably do that in the next week and post something along with more pictures.

This was in Philly during my layover. I kind of like airports. As long as there not crowded. I flew on Valentines day so it was pretty chill. The stewardess sang a song on the plane and served free vodka.

I fit right in here with my headphones on.

15 west A.K.A Roger Mandle building A.K.A where I live.The is the view from my room. I think the statue is missing an arm... do you see those silver buses? Those are for the criminals that get sent to jail!

I hope this has informed you in some way about my experience so far. I also hope everyone is having a great semester back at KCAI and are having tons of fun!

Friday, February 13, 2009

This is what I have been excited about lately. I started off with a 12 speed chicago schwinn. all original parts except the wheels. Process will soon be up for those interested in all the hard work I put into this ride.